Don't Do It

Writers: Estelle, Miriah
Date Posted: 30th September 2019

Characters: J'ackt, R'fal
Description: R'fal accidentally reveals a plan when talking to J'ackt
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 6 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: Alina, N'vanik, Cyradis, Olwinna

J'ackt

Sitting on a bench near the practice yard, J'ackt wiped a cloth down
the blade of his sword, checking it for nicks. It was a simple guard's
sword, similar to what he'd had when he was holdless, but it was far
less battered. It was far easier to keep it in good condition at the
Weyr, but it was also true that he had to use it much less. He worried
some days that he was losing his own edge.

R'fal watched as the bronzerider cleaned his sword, at first idly and
then with growing curiosity. He'd come down early for his class with the
dragonhealers and there wasn't anyone in the infirmary yet, so he waited
and this had caught his interest. Until he'd been Searched he'd never
seen anyone armed with a blade like that, and he hadn't paid much
attention until he'd been confronted with the glittering array of
weaponry worn by the Emerald Falls guards at his father's trial.

Maybe he should have noticed. The memory of his father's request
returned, unbidden, and he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to put
it aside. Months had gone by, and he still didn't know what to do.

Suddenly he realized the other rider was looking at him. Had he been
staring? "Sorry. I was just..."

A brow arched, slightly annoyed. "Wondering if I was going to cut
anyone's head off? Steal or stab something?" J'ackt rose, sliding the
blade back into its scabbard. Faranth, if had to answer any more
questions like that, he might consider doing what people were so
concerned about. "I'm not. " J'ackt snorted. "No reason to right now
at least."

"Uh - good?" R'fal blinked, wondering for a moment why anyone would
think that, before he recognized the bronzerider as the one who'd been
attacked. If that was the case, he certainly had reason to be carrying a
weapon. "I didn't mean to stare. You just reminded me of something.
Nothing to do with anyone here." He sighed. "Never mind. Sorry."

Shrugging, J'ackt buckled the sword to his side, the weight feeling
comfortable and familiar. " I'm used to it." His eyes flicked to
R'fal's knots and he quirked a brow as they went back to R'fal's face.
"You're R'fal, right? In Rapids Wing?"

"Yes," R'fal said, warily. He could only think of two reasons why
someone might know his name. One was the trial, and the other was that
disastrous party in his weyr. He hoped it was the latter. "And you're
J'ackt, Zith's rider." He'd heard plenty of stories, the attack being
only the most recent.

"Yeah. That would be me." He crossed his arms over his chest. "So what
did I remind you of?"

The young brownrider hesitated. It wasn't a subject he wanted to draw
attention to, but he couldn't come up with anything else plausible to
say and besides, he wasn't sure if it would be right to lie to a
bronzerider. "The guards. At Emerald Falls. They had swords like that."

J'ackt's brow twitched upwards."I know; I've been on both ends of them.
Course, most of them don't know how to use them worth a fecking damn."
From what he'd seen, most tended to act as though they were clubs
rather than blades. "Why? You wanting to learn?"

"Could I?" R'fal replied, surprised. "Learn to fight better than the
guards?" He'd not even considered that as a possibility; most of his
half-formed plans for getting his father out of the mine had involved
sneaking in without being caught.

"Yeah, if you work hard enough at it and got talent. Takes a lot of
practice and it don't come easy, though." He studied R'fal. "Don't
really need it as a rider though. Not really. I learned before I came
here. "

He was right, R'fal thought, remembering how it had been drilled into
them as weyrlings to avoid fights which might end in disaster, with the
loss of a dragon. But if he was seen, and there was no choice... He
shook his head; it sounded as though it took Turns to learn, and - "It
doesn't matter. There isn't time." Suddenly realizing his slip, he
hastily backtracked. "I mean, _I_ don't have time. With duties, and
everything."

J'ackt was anything but unobservant; he might not have had people
skills, but he knew about body posture and avoidance. "Ah." His eyes
narrowed slightly as a the memory of a rumor Alina had mentioned
flickered through his brain. Sometimes having a weyrmate who had a
nose for random rumors was a benefit, even though he usually let what
she was talking about slip through one ear and out of the other. This
one had stuck, if only because he could sympathize with the man's
plight. "Don't do it. Don't even think of it. N'vanik will have your
hide. I know."

R'fal did his best to look confused rather than guilty, though he
realized with a sinking feeling that it was already too late. "Huh?
Don't do what?"

J'ackt just looked at him and lowered his voice. "Heard about that
trial. Your Da and bandits, right? Met a few of 'em long time back."
He sat back down, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked up at
R'fal. "Don't get the Weyr involved with Hold stuff, R'fal. You'll
regret it. I did it and there's still problems with the Weyr and
Emerald Falls. N'vanik and Cyradis are still picking up the pieces of
my screw ups. Shards, nearly died over the anger between the two
places. Don't make it worse, man. Just don't. It's not worth it. You
may jump something off that you can't fix."

"But he shouldn't be there!" R'fal protested, hot shame filling him as
he realized the bronzerider knew. Perhaps everyone did. His hands
clenched into fists. "He didn't do anything wrong. They forced him to
help them. Threatened our family." It was more than he'd spoken about
the injustice done to his father in months. He hadn't even been able to
talk to his mother, but now there was no point in hiding it any more. "I
can't just leave him with those - those criminals."

"You willing to put the entire Weyr and Hold at each other's throats
over it? Look, done a fair bit of stealing in my time. Did some fighting
with the guards at the Hold too. I admit it. And that was just so I
could survive, get me? Ain't saying the Hold is right, mind you. I
wasn't there and neither were you. You don't know what happened except
what he told you but I'll tell you something from being on that side.
When you're trying to save your own arse, you lie. Shards, I lied every
day when I first got here. Bout my name, who I was, what I done, til
I couldn't anymore. Can you be certain your Da's not? With no doubts or
hesitation?"

"My Da's not a liar!" R'fal's eyes narrowed. "Or a thief." Uneasy
memories stirred of his life at the cothold: the times they'd gone
hunting at night, the mysterious item he'd seen his father burying in
the woods. But that could have been anything, and poaching wasn't
stealing, really, not like what bandits did anyway. Was it? He pushed
down his doubts. "He's nothing like those holdless people. My family's
honest cotholders."

"I was one of those holdless people," The reminder was spoken sharply.
"I did things because I had to. The man who attacked me? His family are
cotholders...a guard family. You might want to rethink your assumptions,
R'fal. And you might want to think about listening to someone who's
lived it. Bandits aren't going to threaten a family. It's too easy to
alert the guards and turn them in. There's rewards out for their sort
and for Holdless thieves. " He rose. "Stay out of Holder business." For
the first time, J'ackt wielded his rank like the blade he wore at his
hip. "That's an order. Better it come from me than N'vanik, R'fal."

The brownrider's jaw tightened in resentment, his posture tense, but a
moment passed and he didn't argue. "Yes, Bronzerider." His voice was
flat. "Can I go now? I have to get to class."

"Not yet. I'll keep this quiet for now, between you and me, your dragon
and Zith. And Zith is already talking to your brown. Don't screw this
up. You're a man of the Weyr now. This is is your fecking family. This
entire place. Don't put them at risk."

R'fal returned his gaze with stony dislike. **I've already got a
family.** And it certainly didn't include thieving holdless people. The
realization dawned that he'd screwed up anyway, that if he tried to go
to the mine now the bronze dragon would know about it. He'd failed. His
throat tightened, and it was a moment before he could speak. "Fine. Can
I go to my class _now_? Sir."

"Yeah. Go." J'ackt hid a grimace at the 'sir', but nodded. **Keep an eye
on his brown, Zith. **

}: Agreed. :{

R'fal turned on his heel and walked swiftly away towards the
dragonhealers' infirmary, though he hardly registered where he was
going. What right did that bronzerider have to interfere? What did he
know about it, anyway? From what he'd heard, the man barely had a family
to speak of. He couldn't possibly understand.

As he joined the class, slipping in at the back, a traitorous thought
wormed its way into his head. What if he _hadn't_ made a slip? What if
he'd meant to make that mistake, without consciously knowing it, so
that he wouldn't have to go through with the rescue?

**You've been spending too much time with Journeywoman Olwinna,** he
told himself. But he wasn't convinced. Perhaps he was too much of a
coward to help his father, after all.

Last updated on the October 14th 2019

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Don't Do It